Beginning this semester, dorm inspections will now be conducted by the Campus Residences Department of Safety and Support. In the past, Residential Assistants (RAs) were responsible for this procedure each semester. 

According to Campus Residences, this change prioritizes the enforcement of safety regulations within residential halls. 

“Safety and Support are better situated to conduct health and safety inspections as their main focus and expertise is safety,” a representative for Campus Residences said. 

Safety and Support will also work with similar Stony Brook groups to ensure health and safety regulations are met in student dorms. 

“They work closely with the Fire Marshals to help mitigate fire risk within the halls,” Campus Residences said in an email to The Statesman. 

Campus Residences also aims to orient the role of RAs more toward community building through programs and events. 

Students, however, feel conflicted about RAs no longer conducting dorm inspections. 

“RAs might be better [at] dorm inspections because they were selected for the purpose of befriending people, knowing people, knowing what the residents need and how they live,” Harsh Tragadiya, a junior majoring in applied mathematics and statistics and economics, said. 

Esther Min, a sophomore biology major, brought up a similar point concerning RAs being more accessible to students. 

“It’s a lot harder to reach out to [Safety and Support] as opposed to your RA who lives maybe a door or two down from you, who can explain and sort of help represent you if you are having some issue,” Min said. 

Another concern was that Safety and Support may be tougher on students who are unaware of certain dorm regulations. 

“There are a lot of international students who might not know the safety issues in the dorms … and Safety and Support might take it more seriously while RAs might give them a chance and make them understand why it’s not good for the dorm,” Tragadiya said. 

Campus Residences has stated that changes in staff will be the only modification to dorm inspection procedures.